Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News AND UPPER THAMES ADVOCATE. WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 1890.

Te Aroha News, Volume VIII, Issue 489, 16 July 1890, Page 2

Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News AND UPPER THAMES ADVOCATE.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 1890.

* Thin above all—to thine own self be brae, And it must follow as the night the day Thou c&nßt not then be false to any man.' Shakksfkarb.

During the past two or three years a great outcry has been made by those who appear to take a pleasure in repreeenting matters in connection with New Zealand in the worst possible light respecting the great exodus from our shores, not only of capitalists, but of the best class of working men and artisans ; and these were all represented [ to be leaving for the very reasonable and laudaMe purpose of bettering their condition. It is well known those who left us did so with the intention and expectation of doing better on the other side, lead away by the glamour of the repoits BO caiifully and persistently circulated

of the-.universal state of prosperity and hicli wages to be obtiiiicd by simply ma ssing over to Victoria of Ne,w South Wales. How sadly the great majority of those who thus left 'New Zealand have been deceived is now a matter of record.'*-and that;, with few exceptions, they have fmm l oht to their cost they would have done far . better to have remained in this Colony in spite of the so called depression. The true state of affairs is now becoming still better known, large numbers of men are out of 1 work.jan l, the reports received during the last few days points to a very serious state of affairs indeed in connection with the‘miemploye ’ quesrioti. Violence and anarchy are being openly a Ivocated by some very few, but we believe the better judgement of the vast majority will prevail, and avert the harm that would necessarily result from the adoption of ‘mob law.’ Even the authorities \i& are now told estimate the number unemployed men in Melbourne alone at two thousand > (‘ marvellous Melbourne’ as we have so constantly heard, it spoken; of) ; and it is admitted the distress is increasing and likely to increase. There are literally hundreds and thousands of applicants for vacant situations? in Victoria. When tbe other day the railway department advertised for six hundred and forty one men, this ‘ prosperous’ and * marvellous ’ Colony replied promptly with eleven thousand applications. For one hundred and thirty porters wanted, eleven ■ hundred ...and e ghty six applications were received. For forty engine nearly four 1 thousand applications were received, and 8 > on. And with respect to the state of affairs iu New South Wales, we quote the following extracts from a leading article in the Barr?*'*’ Miner of June 26th (published at Br ten Hill); which, however, we sincerely hope is much exaggerated, for whilst we know beyond doubt hundreds and thousands are out of employment in New •South Wales, as well as Victoria, still we can scarcely conceive affairs are really come to such a dreadful pass as represented by our contemporary in the leading article referred to : -

“•Out of Work.’ This is the cry throughout New South Wales, Out of work is the excuse , made by; almost every applicant for assistance. The capital of the colony is a city of starvation. Huge stone buildings of elaborate design, rim up on borrowed money, frown over footpaths covered with the ranks of destitution. Hunger gnaws at the vitals of thousands of unemployed who tramp about with gaunt forms and despairing faces, vainly looking for work during the day, whilst Poverty, a grim skeleton, stands a sentinel by tbe shivering wretches who huddle together in abject misery, drenched to the skin by rain or cut to the bone by the piercing winds of a winter's night, on the city parks, domain, and other reserves. Beggars, made thieves by necessity, and spirited men made criminals through being out of work, infest tbe public places. Stories of murders, and suicides, terrorise the community, and occasionally reports appear in the daily newspapers of men who have tainted through weakness and been found dead outside the Sydney soup* kitchen, the signal bell of which they were too exhausted to ring. Men want, but cannot possibly obtain, employment. Society is apparently tranquil, but underneath tins runs an ominous current, which must, sooner or later, find an'outlet. Out of work, out of work, out of work. Shame on the land where a paltry fringe of n population has to cry out the news of a national disgrace. Rich in natural resources, huge enough to carry a population equal to the United States, isolated in national security, New youth Wales still struggles, in political agony, and cannot find bread for the comparatively ■ small population demanding it. And this terrible state of affairs is not confined to Sydney. The'dy of the unemployed rings out throughout the colony. Past ora list and agriculturist, mechanic and laborer, the workers on the surface and the toilers in the pits, all join in one universal cry,— out of work, out of work. In Broken Hill, the district where at the present moment the goddess of New South Welsh labor smiles kindliest, hungry men are met on all sides asking, vainly asking, for the Opportunity to work. Every morning the train-brings up its living cargo of anxious labour, but tbe few pounds of the young working man are soon absorbed by the ravenous appetites of bourdinghouse keepers, and disappointment is tbe only reward the anxious inquirer for work at the mines receives. Walking through the streets, little gatherings may be observed, and the sole topic of conversation is where to obtain work.” In tlm face of .such a state of affairs as the-above, New Zealand croakeis will surely cease their cioaking ; and any who had thoughts of leaving the Colony for ‘fresh fields and pastures new,’ think twice before so doing ; and be thankful they are still iu a Colony where anything at all approaching in the remotest degree such a state of affairs, even in tbe depth of our ‘depression,’ has never been known, to exist.